The Council's Budget 2025/26
The Council is seeking your views on the Council Budget 2026/27. In order to support that it is helpful to understand the Council’s Budget 2025/26, as such details of the 2025/26 Budget are provided below and then a link to our consultation form for the 2026/27 Budget.
At the Council Budget meeting in March 2025, the Budget and Council Tax report including a Medium Term Financial Planning update was agreed for 2025/26. This Budget included the delivery of previously agreed budget savings of £5.3m, new revenue budget savings £2.6m, new revenue investments of £1.9m and new capital investments of £18.1m. The savings are needed due to increasing demand for social care services, increasing costs for the council in providing services due to the impact on high inflation and rising market costs, in particular in the social care market.
The budget set last year can be viewed here.
The Council currently estimates an overspend for 2025/26 of £0.9m due to:
- Placement pressures within Children and Young People’s Services and Adult Social Care due to demand and complexity of care needs.
- Slippage in the delivery of the Waste Management route optimisation programme.
- Impact of the Local Government Pay Award at 3.2%
- Pressures offset by Treasury Management Savings and a social care contingency built into the Council’s Budget for 2025/26.
These financial challenges have been factored into the current forecast and the impact of these pressures will need to be considered as part of the Medium Term Financial Planning assumptions. The Council is therefore looking to consult with residents and partners on where the Council should look to prioritise expenditure and where it should look to reduce levels of investment.
WHERE DOES THE COUNCIL GET ITS MONEY FROM?
The Council’s current budget is £359 million and is funded from £138 million Council Tax, £96 million Business Rates and £125 million Government funding.
WHAT DOES THE COUNCIL SPEND ITS MONEY ON?
- £69m on Children and Young People's Service
- £136m on Adult Care, Housing and Public Health
- £49m on Regeneration and Environment Services
- £62m on Central Services
- £35m on Finance and Customer Services
- £8m on Assistant Chief Executive portfolio
The area of highest spend is social care due to demand.
Protecting the most vulnerable children and adults, whilst continuing to provide core services – like road repairs and street cleansing – underpinned the authority’s budget for 2025/26.
The Council Plan sets out medium-term priorities and actions, building on and taking forward commitments made by members to the Rotherham community. The plan is framed around five themes:
- Places are thriving, safe, and clean
- An economy that works for everyone
- Children and young people achieve
- Residents live well
- One Council that listens and learns
